Young House Love

DIY Home Decorating Projects, Tutorials, & Shenanigans

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How Floor Refinishing Totally Transformed The Duplex

Last week Sherry and I got to see the freshly refinished floors at the duplex for the first time. And despite having just gone through this last year at the pink beach house, we were still taken aback by what a HUGE difference it makes. Which explains why we’re about to hit you with a bunch of before & afters right now. We can’t get over how finished it makes everything feel. It’s like changing this one surface suddenly takes the whole place from “renovation zone” to “move-in ready.” I mean, let’s just appreciate how far we’ve come for a second. This is that same room (the living room on the left side of the duplex) when

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Holiday Gift Guides for Everyone On Your List (With Stuff under $20 – And Even $5!)

As is the tradition, I’m a little late with this. Ha! But here it is! (I’m also late with my actual gift buying, so I better get cracking). We like to put all of our gift guides in one place, so below you’ll find the one we made for grown-ups, another one for kids, and (my personal favorite) one full of stuff that’s under $15.  Gifts For Grown-Ups Here’s what we’re loving, either firsthand stuff we bought for ourselves and have really enjoyed – or things we’re getting for friends & family (or hoping to find under the tree).  1 / Adulting Award Ribbons (4/$25): It would be so much fun to have an “award

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#123: Baskets – Friend or Foe?

We recently realized that storage baskets may be simultaneously helping AND hampering our home organizing efforts (and yes, hampering was a pun). Also, the duplex has passed an important renovation milestone: floor refinishing! But even though we had planned for it to go a certain way, we were thrown an extremely last minute curveball and our entire plan changed in the final hour. Plus, a compelling counterpoint to one of our “must have” home features (thanks to you guys and your feedback from last episode!) and some simple tips for how to use decor to de-stress your home. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re

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Holiday House Tour 2018 & How We Decorated The Beach House!

Wanna see how we decorated our house (and the beach house) for Christmas? We have a ton of photos for you, so let’s get right into it. Since we got an entirely new exterior for Christmas (literally all I wanted for Christmas was a white brick house, ha!) we had so much fun trying some new things out front. We did some simple warm white exterior LEDs (why are those so hard to find?!) on the trees on each side of the door. Remember I upgraded those to these larger faux ones because I can’t kill them and the taller height looks nicer on the porch with all the white brick. Those pots are actually

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#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can

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Our Furniture Is Officially For Sale On Wayfair!

I’m not sure an emoji even exists to capture how THRILLED we are to announce that our furniture line is finally out! The one that represents me would probably be the salsa dancing woman, except she’d be wearing all black with a skull for a face because I’m 95% dead from the excitement. Also let’s add a taco in her hand because that’s always a good idea. Am I already talking about tacos? That got off track quickly. Anyway, I know a lot of you have been following along as this day has crept closer (thank you for that, btw!) so now you can officially shop the whole collection (over 30 pieces! way more than

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The Duplex Is Tiled! Here’s What We Loved & What We Wouldn’t Do Again

Tiling was one of the most daunting tasks on our duplex to-do list this year (four bathrooms! two mudrooms! and there are still two backsplashes on the list) so it’s a HUGE relief to say that all of those floors and showers and tub surrounds are officially done (well, like 95% done – more on that later). So today we wanted to show you how they’ve all turned out and share some of the lessons we learned along the way, including which tiles we’d buy again in a heartbeat… and the ones we’d think twice about attempting ever again. floor tile | wall tile | shower floor | grout: frost | door: SW Oyster Bay

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#121: Do We Make Design Decisions Just For The Blog?

It’s a question we’ve gotten a lot over the years: are you doing this for you or for the blog? It’s even one we’ve asked ourselves – and it hasn’t always always been easy to answer – but it’s a lot clearer in hindsight. So we’re diving into what past projects we would’ve done differently without an audience watching and we’re sharing how we keep ourselves in check these days. Plus, Sherry is finally getting the chance to realize a makeover she has fantasized about for five years and we talk through how we decide what home maintenance tasks to tackle ourselves and which to hire out. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn

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Black Friday Home Decor Deals (& What We’re Buying)

As is the tradition, I’ve scoured the Black Friday sales (is it me, or do they start earlier every year?) and rounded up my favorite home decor & furniture deals. And John already grabbed some tech items (he’s been waiting for this sale for a while). Our kitchen stools are under $96, our daughter’s bedroom rug is $350 off, and these velvet pillow covers are just $10! Our TV is also 42% off ($250 off!!), the smart plugs John loves are 58% off and his FBAT (favorite backpack of all time) is 65% 0ff. And so much more. Stuff We Already Own (& Love!): These are all things that we have bought with our own money, lived with, and love. And thanks to

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How To Paint A Bathroom Floor To Look Like Cement Tile (For Under $75)!

I hear everyone who’s asking for our annual Black Friday deals post and I’m putting it together as we speak! But in the meantime, you guys have to see this awesome tile transformation that a reader named Angela sent over. She not only COMPLETELY transformed her old blotchy beige bathroom floor, but it was super wallet-friendly (UNDER $75! HOLLA!), and it has already held up for well over half a year without any issues. In a wet bathroom that gets everyday use, no less! I know this is probably going to be hard to believe, but that beautiful bathroom above used to look like this. Again, she did not put down new tile – she

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#120: The Big Fight We Had Over A Microwave

Remember when we got into it over a refrigerator back in Episode #74? Well, the location of an appliance recently had us battling over two different kitchen layouts – this time for the duplex. So this week we’re sharing our competing perspectives on form versus function, and how we finally came to a compromise that checks both boxes (but not until I spent a few days cooling off). We’re also sharing why this stage of the duplex renovation is especially brain-bending, and what we’ve come to realize about hitting a wall… and then getting yourself over it. Plus, a solution to an age-old problem in our home office, an update on Sherry’s weighted blanket, and

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Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Downstairs

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so excited to share before and after photos as I am today. Last month marked the 2-year anniversary of buying the beach house and while we never like to declare a home “done,” this place has come so far that this felt like a good moment to look back at everything (and to document what’s still ahead). We’ve dug up dozens of before photos (including many that we haven’t ever shared!) and we’ve done our best to find or take similar angles to match up with them. There are so many angles to show you, and so much to cover, we’re just doing the downstairs today  – and then

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